Before The Dawn
by sammyforch
Summary: Sasuke and Sakura meet one last time before Sasuke reaches Konoha, hell-bent on destroying it. Complete. One-Shot. Canon.


Disclaimer: I do not own Sasuke, Sakura, or Naruto.

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"Why are you here?"

The pink haired girl looked at him, her eyes cold. Her delicate hands tighten into fists as she begins to laugh harshly. He does not respond and watches her as she trembles.

"Well, where the hell would I be, Sasuke?" He does not react. He tilts his head upwards and stares at the sky. The sky is beautiful, a shame really, knowing that a massacre would result only hours later. Call it a calm before the storm.

"You should leave," he murmurs. The girl's eyes narrow as tears begin to form, but she does not let them fall. She stares at the dirty, grassy ground beneath her feet. They are a couple of miles outside Konoha. Her mission is to distract him, to divert his attention while she can. Again, this is her mission but she does not plan to slow him down, but to stop him here…before anyone else can get hurt.

She won't let him get past her, no, not again.

"You're asking me to leave again? Because we all know how well that worked out last time," she scowls. He does not reply.

"Do you remember that Sasuke? When you left me on the bench, in the middle of the night? Because I sure as hell do." He glances at her for a moment before looking out in the distance in Konoha's direction.

"Shocker, silence…again. Couldn't get anything out of you years ago, can't get you to talk to me now. I guess some things never change, right Sasuke-_kun_?" Her mocking tone surprises him as he lifts an eyebrow. She wouldn't dare speak to him like that the last time they met, let alone when they were on Team 7.

"You've changed, Sakura," he replies in monotone. She scoffs, shaking her head.

"Today's the day, isn't it?" He stares at her, emotionless.

"You're going to attack Konoha, right?"

"Why are you here?" His angry tone does not affect her, he notices, at least not like how it used to. How when even he sounded a bit irritated, she would cry or beg for his forgiveness.

"It's a bit obvious, isn't it? I'm going to stop you right here, before you can get to Naruto or anyone else!" He chuckles quietly before walking towards her, his sharingan activated. The girl stumbles slightly as she takes a step backwards, kunai in hand.

"That's not going to happen, Sakura," he says as her back hits a tree. The girl looks around at her surroundings, trying to plan an escape route. Her eyes widen a fraction when the Uchiha pins her wrist to the tree, rendering the kunai in her right hand useless. It is silent for a few pauses; the only sounds heard are the harsh breaths of former teammates, of former allies. She looks up in his swirling eyes defiantly.

"Why not then, Sasuke-_kun_?" She grabs his arm with her opposite hand, smirking. He knows that she could get out of his hold, but she doesn't.

She wants to him have a reaction, to be impressed. It's actually kind of pissing him off, to be honest. He realizes she wants his attention; that she's intentionally trying to keep him there. He matches her smirk with one of his own before bending his head down near hers, his mouth by her ear. She freezes as she feels his breaths on her skin.

"Because you still love me, _Sa-ku-ra_," he whispers. He stares at her before letting go of her wrist and walking in the other direction. Her jaw drops, struggling to find words.

"W-Where do you think you're going?" The Uchiha jumps when he feels the ground tremble beneath his feet. He turns his back to Sakura, her fist embedded into the ground, panting. She has a lack of chakra, he observes. Makes sense, with the number of casualties already. She did not plan on being able to kill him anyway, too weak to fight. He continues to walk. She gets up and begins to run after him. She stops as her legs are not willing to take her any further.

"Stop!" He ignores her pleas.

"We're not done here!"

"Get back here and fight me, traitor!" No reaction, nothing. He continues to pace away from her.

"DON'T LEAVE ME AGAIN!" He stops. Sasuke frowns, unbeknownst to Sakura. He looks down, sighs and turns to see Sakura's weak form walking towards him. He lets her. He deflects a kunai aimed at his head easily. The Uchiha catches her chakra-infused fist in his hand as he feels a breeze behind him from the amount of strength behind it. He feels Sakura shaking and for the first time in years, she breaks down and cries.

Why in front of Sasuke? She's not sure. Maybe because he believes that their bond has been broken, that nothing could lower his standards of her. Maybe it's because she has everything to lose, but her former comrade has everything to gain. She refuses to accept that it's simply because she still loves him. He once had goals, to restore his clan and to protect his comrades. Now, closure is all he wants and destroying Konoha is how he is plans on getting it.

"Don't do this, Sasuke," she whispers. He finds himself staring at her again.

"Innocent people will die, Sasuke. Even you wouldn't stoop so low."

"You don't know me, Sakura," he says. She pushes herself away from her former teammate and narrows her eyes.

"That's a lie! I know you better than anyone. Naruto, Kakashi, and I know you better than you know yourself! You can try and destroy our bonds but they will never break!" He smirks and shakes his head.

"Annoying," he whispers.

She grits her teeth together.

"Sasuke!"

"If you know me, then you know that I need this!"

"Okay, Sasuke! Then what?"

"What are you talking about?

"What happens after you destroy Konoha, huh? After everyone who cares about you dies?"

"Then, my conquest for revenge is over," he murmurs.

"So, then what?"

"Nothing, I do nothing." She cannot find any words to reply. He begins to walk again and she does not stop him. However, for the first time since he killed Itachi, he feels remorse. He always did whenever she was involved and he didn't know why the hell he did.

"Did we ever mean anything to you? Did…I ever mean anything to you?" She looks down at the ground with a sob, tears sliding down her face as he continues to walk away further from her, not even turning to look at her. She jolts in surprise when he disappears from her sight. She stares in front of her when she feels his presence behind her. She does not move, Déjà vu overwhelming her senses. The scene is too familiar. They are so close once again. She feels his breaths on her neck, out of sync with her quiet, harsh ones. She closes her eyes when she feels his lips brush her cheek.

"Thank you for everything, Sakura." She braces herself for a blow but it does not come. After a moment, her eyes shoot open. Sakura spins but does not find Sasuke, only the emptiness of the forest. He's gone, he got away.

She falls to her knees as her hands clench the grass beneath her and swears. She cries out in frustration before speeding towards Konoha, knowing the war zone that will await her there.

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Thank you for reading! I love my readers and love favorites and reviews! If you have a request for a story please pm me and thank you! Favorite and review!


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